A Match Made In Something
by insidious heart
Summary: After more than her fair share of bad dates, Maria Deluca has had enough. Can she find 'the one' for her with the help of Madame Vivian?
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything, blah blah blah.**

**Author's note: Special thanks to xmag for inspiring the story and helping with an amazing outline. **

**Part 1:**

BANG!

Doug Sohn slammed the door hard on Maria Deluca's Jetta in frustration. Who was she kidding? Did she really believe that he wanted only to hold her hand and kiss her on the cheek? As far as he was concerned, Maria was only good enough for a cheap roll around in the hay. After all, she dressed weird, didn't have a dad and her mother, Amy Deluca was a hippy with a loose reputation.

Maria watched as he stomped away down the street and sighed, biting her top lip in a vain attempt to hold herself together. _I will not cry, I will not cry._ Never in her whole life had she felt so worthless and stupid. Actually, scratch that. It was in fact the second time Maria had been made to feel that way, the first occasion coming when her father left both her and her mom behind at the ripe old age of just seven.

_This is it._ She pledged firmly to herself. _This is the last time I'll be humiliated by some dumb guy. No more dating until I find 'the one'. If there is a one, that is._

But how?

Maria mulled it over for a while, her mind initially drawing a blank. Then suddenly, she had a burst of inspiration, remembering how Amy rambled on enthusiastically about the wonders of tarot reading and clairvoyance. In particular, the talents of one Madame Vivian, the psychic medium that Amy always consulted whenever she was facing business problems or a relationship crisis.

_Yes, that's it. I need to consult a psychic! _Maria realised, with a grin slowly spreading from ear to ear. She couldn't go wrong with someone who could tell the future. Unless her future was an unhappy one, in which she was destined to fall in and out of unfulfilling half-assed relationships like her mother. _Oh well, better to be prepared one way or the other. _

_Madame Vivian, here I come!_

_-----_

The very next day, Maria decided to pay a visit to Madame Vivian. It had taken well over an hour to drive there but she was finally sitting inside a darkened room with the psychic, waiting for her to uncover what fate had in store. The room where Madame Vivian gave her readings was dingy and dark, but colorfully decorated with purple and red drapes on the walls and Native American artifacts sitting on bookshelves along with assorted paranormal reading material.

"Hmmm…very interesting…" Madame Vivian commented while examining Maria's hands. The older woman had an almost disturbed expression on her face as she held Maria's hands in hers, concentrating with her eyes closed.

"Interesting as in?" Maria prompted.

"Interesting as in I see a young man." Madame Vivian answered, peering even more closely at Maria's upturned palm. "He is the one, the one who will be the love of your life. You already know him and have always been near."

_Alex? No it couldn't be, surely? I mean, I love the guy to death platonically but he is so not 'love of my life' material._ Maria mused internally.

"I have visions, you see." The medium continued, pulling Maria away from her thoughts. "The man, he is tall, and bad tempered with wild hair. There's something mysterious about him, something so strange that I can't quite put my finger on."

Madame Vivian stopped speaking and looked Maria squarely in the eyes.

"Be careful, my dear. There may be danger later on but for you there is no other, you and this man are linked for all eternity. You will never be left wanting for passion and love."

Maria gulped but held the woman's intense gaze. For all eternity? This guy had better be damn close to perfect if she was going to be stuck with him forever! But as she fully absorbed Madame Vivian's words, she knew deep inside she wasn't really complaining. In fact, she was actually feeling much closer to ecstatic.

"Well Madame, I'll be careful but if he is the one for me I won't be staying away. If we're meant to be in love for all time then he'll never become a threat to me. I _know_ it." Maria responded firmly.

And she did. She had no idea who this mysterious soulmate of hers could be but something inside her, something deep and powerful, recognized the truth of her own words.

Standing up and gathering her bag and jacket, Maria thanked Madame Vivian and left to make the trip back to Roswell to start her shift at the Crashdown.

-----

The Crashdown Café was packed with hungry lunch time tourists and regulars by the time Maria arrived twenty minutes late to take her shift. Assessing the scene in front of her, she could see a flustered Liz Parker taking orders from customers at a furious rate. Agnes, the other waitress scheduled to be working that day, was nowhere to be seen. Typical. Maria fled to the staff only area of the café, her mood still sky high but now feeling a little guilty for her friend's sake. Changing quickly into her uniform, she left the bathroom and headed towards the main area of the restaurant, only to run into a charging Liz.

"Maria, where the hell have you been? This place has turned into a zoo!" she cried out breathlessly.

"I am so sorry, babe. But you wouldn't believe what just happened to me. I went to see my mom's favourite psychic and…"

Liz put her hand over Maria's mouth, she loved her best friend dearly but goddamn it, they had a crisis here!

"Maria. As much as I would love to sit down and gossip with you, the masses want their greasy fat food like, yesterday. So please, please, please help me out here and serve them, and I swear that I'll be all ears on our break, ok?" Liz promised.

Maria rolled her eyes at the thought of the slobbering, low-tipping customers and sighed. She was so excited by Madame Vivian's predictions but work responsibilities came first, and she wasn't about to let Liz down when she had been late for work anyway.

"Fine."

"Come on, sulky." Liz laughed and pushed Maria out towards the ravenously starving public of Roswell, New Mexico.

-----

Sometime, about 45 cranky customers later, the girls finally got to have their break. The café was almost deserted, save for their other best friend Alex Whitman, who had just come in for an orange soda.

"So can I finally tell you guys what happened to me this morning?" Maria asked impatiently.

Alex mumbled a yes in between sipping his soda while Liz grinned. "Go right ahead."

Satisfied that she now had both their undivided attention, Maria proceeded to explain where she had been to that morning and why.

"So basically, after one disastrous date after another, I needed to take some drastic action to be certain that I never have to suffer through any more humiliation in my quest for true love." Maria finished her summary of the events of that morning and previous night.

She looked at Liz first to gauge her reaction, figuring that ever the skeptic, Liz would shoot her down gently as the voice of reason. It was how their friendship worked – Liz was the voice of reason that calmed Maria down when she got overdramatic and panicked, and Maria always made sure that Liz remembered how to have fun and let her hair down. Alex on the other hand, tended to veer in between the extremes and provided the balance between the two girls.

Sure enough, almost immediately Liz tried to reason with Maria as to why Madame Vivian's claims about a great love couldn't possibly be true.

"Maria, how can you believe in this stuff? It's completely fake, these so-called 'psychics' are just out to make money by emotionally manipulating people into thinking that they can predict their future. There's no such thing as psychic phenomena."

Alex nodded in agreement. "No offense Maria, but your mom has pretty much based her whole life on Madame Vivian's advice, and you know what her love life is like. One failed romance after another."

"You guys weren't there." Maria insisted. "I'm telling you, this was so different from all the others times I've visited her with Mom. She really did see something when she did my reading."

She stopped briefly to sigh at her friends' unconvinced expressions before continuing.

"The way Madame Vivian was describing this guy's strangeness; she really did seem genuinely concerned about me. That was the clincher in convincing me that this was real."

"With your luck, the only strange thing about this mysterious man is that he'll turn out to be a cross dresser." Alex snorted.

Liz did her best to smother a laugh at Alex before turning back to Maria.

"Look, if you really think that what this woman told you was the truth, why don't you make list a list of the guys that you know of that fit the description she gave you?" she suggested.

Maria's face brightened up. Trust Liz to go into immediate organizational mode, even if she thought that psychics were frauds. At least she believed that Maria believed.

"Thank you Liz, I might just do that when I go home this afternoon." Maria replied with a smile.

-----

Later on that evening, Maria returned home to begin working on her list. Amy was out on a date so she had the house to herself and nothing to distract her from the task at hand – figuring out the identity of her supposed great love.

There were five clues; tall, crazy hair, bad temper, some kind of strangeness and reasonably close proximity to Maria for most of her life. Presumably the most likely place she would know him from would be school. _Ugh, now that's a frightening thought._ She took out her high school yearbook and flicked through it for possible candidates.

John Burroughs?

He was tall, wasn't particularly friendly but his hair was cut short and looked normal.

Neil Clovey?

Not tall enough.

Nicky Eden?

Now he was tall, and had long hippyish hair but had always been cool whenever Maria had spoken to him.

Michael Guerin?

He was tall, with one hell of an attitude problem and very wild spiky hair and….

_Oh crud!_

Michael was definitely weird, way off the charts in the strangeness stakes. He seemed like the typical guy from the wrong side of the tracks, going nowhere in life. When he bothered to turn up to school, the only people he was ever seen with were Max and Isabel Evans, siblings who lived in one of the more well-to-do areas of Roswell.

_No, no, no, it can't be! Damn!_

There was just no way. Aside from the temper and weirdo status, the guy wore the same clothes every day, didn't even seem to believe in basic hygiene and always looked covered in paint stains.

And he scared her.

Michael Guerin fit the profile of 'the one' snugly like a glove, and Maria Deluca was doomed.


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you to all the lovely people who have left reviews, I hope you enjoy this new part.**

Back at the Crashdown the next day, Maria recounted her latest mystery man theory to an incredulous Liz and Alex.

"What? Michael Guerin, what the….no way!" Alex spluttered, choking slightly on his soda. "You're talking about Michael Guerin as in the weird guy with the reputation, right? In that case, Madame Vivian has to be a fraud. What on earth would you two even talk about?"

Liz looked grim. "Maria, Alex is right about the guy having a bad reputation. I know you have your heart set on finding your true love but I really don't want you to get hurt." she said, concerned that it would only end in disaster.

"Exactly! Maria, you've heard the stories about this guy, this is not some fairytale Prince Charming you're dealing with here." Alex added.

"Look, I know that it seems like Michael and I would be shockingly terrible for each other. The list of cons is inevitably going to outweigh the pros. But we're talking about the rest of my life here, I can't just let it go and wonder what might have been!" Maria snapped. _Man…as much as I love them both, sometimes they just don't get it._

She sighed, feeling bad for raising her voice at her friends. After all, they were only looking out for her. But coming from happy normal two-parent homes, they didn't understand the urgency of her situation, and the burning need for the medium's prediction to come true. Watching scumbag after scumbag walk out on her mother had strengthened Maria's resolve to fall in love with a man who would love her without condition and never leave. And if that guy really was going to be Michael, then so be it.

Of course, if Maria were to be honest with herself, she wasn't entirely comfortable with the prospect of spending all eternity with Michael. Maria considered herself to be fair and reasonably non-judgmental but like Liz and Alex, she had heard the rumors about him. Maria hurried to smooth things over and convince her friends that the investigation was a good idea.

"I'm sorry guys, I don't mean to snap at you but I have to at least try and investigate this possibility. That way, I'll probably discover many things that will prove to me and to both of you that Michael and I are not meant to be, and then life can continue on as if Madame Vivian had never said anything at all."

_And…I'll only be miserable and end up dying an old maid, but no biggie! _Her brain chimed in sarcastically.

Alex and Liz exchanged a look of resignation before turning back to Maria.

"Ok, I respect that but please be careful and try to not let Michael know that you're doing this, if that's possible. We don't know anything about him or what he might be capable of." Liz cautioned.

"I will. Subtle might not be my middle name -" Alex snickered in agreement with that. "-but Michael will probably never even be aware that he's being watched." Maria promised, with a withering glance at Alex.

"Good." Liz nodded, and then glanced at the café entrance as two families came through the door. "Now that we have that sorted, we really need to get back to work."

"Oh…about that." Maria looked at Liz apologetically. "I really need to get started on watching Michael right away. Can you cover my shift for me?"

"I suppose…" Liz said slowly. "You'll help me, won't you Alex?"

Alex groaned. Waiting on tables wasn't exactly the ideal way to spend a sunny afternoon.

"Fine, but you owe me." he agreed with more than a degree of reluctance.

"All the orange soda you can drink for a month, on the house." Liz offered.

"Done!"

Maria laughed with her friends before giving each of them a hug, and then skipped out of the Crashdown to begin her quest for true love.

Liz watched her leave and then turned back to Alex. "I really hope that nothing bad happens to Maria out of this."

"Or we could just hope that they don't end up killing each other." Alex replied, only half joking.

With a shared grimace, they turned back to work with Maria still in their thoughts.

Monday morning arrived with Maria having no luck tracking down the elusive Michael Guerin. Sunday afternoon had been a real bust, but maybe he would make a rare stop at school to see Max and Isabel or something. She parked her Jetta in the school's parking lot and made her way to her locker, all the while keeping an eye out for a certain spiky-haired boy. _Michael…come out, come out from wherever you are…_

Just as Maria was retrieving her book and study notes for first period history, she noticed Michael walking down the corridor with Isabel and Max.

Out of the corner of her eye, she took in his features. Sure, she'd seen him at school plenty of times over the years when he bothered to attend, but Maria had never truly taken the time to deliberately _notice _Michael before.

_Hmmm...not too bad._

So he wasn't exactly Brad Pitt but Maria had to admit he had potential, at least as far as his outward appearance was concerned. Maybe even more so if he actually learned how to shower. _Note to self: should Guerin be the one, make sure to teach him the joys of regular bathing. _She continued her subtle analysis of Michael's looks as he made his way past. His hair stuck out everywhere as if he had stuck his fingers in an electrical socket but he did have nice full lips, sexy whiskey brown eyes, a good physique and big hands. Which meant that he might just also have a big…

_No, no, no Deluca, get your mind out of the damn gutter! _Maria chastised herself for letting her thoughts stray just a touch too far south of the border. She wasn't one of _those_ girls, despite what some people assumed about her mother. Anyway, just because the guy might be_ slightly_ sexy didn't mean that he had a winning personality.

The bell rang loudly, indicating that it was time for students to make their way to class. Maria slammed her locker shut and walked quickly to the history classroom. As she hurried through the door, she was surprised to find Michael sitting at the desk behind hers. She couldn't remember the last time that he had actually attended this class._ Is this some weird kind of sign from the universe that we're meant to be?_ She wondered. However, his choice of seating made it difficult for Maria to spy on Michael without being noticed, so she concentrated on watching the World War II documentary that Mr Sommers brought in for the class until the first period ended.

Maria kept a close eye on Michael as best she could (given that the guy was prone to cutting class) for the rest of the day, although her attempt to eavesdrop on him and his friends at lunch was thwarted by Alex and Liz, who dragged her away back to their usual lunch table. Apparently, sitting at the very next table to Michael made her seem a tiny bit obvious but she was impatient to know all she could about her potential soulmate.

At the sound of the final bell, Maria rushed out of her last period classroom to get to the Jetta. She waited for a while, watching the other students drift out of the school grounds and then noticed Michael walking toward the parking lot with Max and Isabel. It always seemed weird that he spent so much time hanging out with the Evans siblings and no one else. Max tended to be quiet and studious and Isabel was by far the most popular girl at West Roswell. It didn't make sense that they would socialize with a rebellious outcast like Michael. _Then again, this is Roswell after all, where all sense and reasoning fly out the window. _She smiled wryly. Perhaps it might have made more sense if Isabel was dating Michael, but Maria doubted that the other girl would dare sully her Queen Bee reputation by getting it on with a guy from the wrong side of the tracks. He seemed resentful of her at times, probably because she bossed him and Max around so much.

The three friends got into the Jeep that Max and Isabel shared and took off. Maria started her own car and followed them at a discreet distance. They headed into one of the more affluent areas of town and stopped in front of a large Spanish style home with manicured lawns. She couldn't help but feel slightly envious. _Must be the Evans digs then. _

Maria parked her car around the corner, out of view of Michael and the Evanses and then crept up close to the side of their house to peer into the kitchen window. Isabel was making sandwiches, while Max poured three sodas. Was that Tabasco sauce he was putting in those drinks? Maybe the three of them had bonded over extremely wacky taste buds. Maria wrinkled her nose in distaste as Max passed the bottle of sauce to Isabel, who sprinkled it liberally over the sandwiches. _Note to self part two: should Guerin be the one, get him acquainted with breath freshening candies ASAP!_

The siblings took their food and drink and disappeared from view. Maria noted the direction they were heading in and crawled around the house until she approached a bedroom window that looked to be Max's. Max and Isabel were now sitting on a bed, while Michael sat in an armchair. They appeared to be having quite an animated conversation so Maria crept as close as she could to hear it.

"So, you're never going to believe what I saw today!" Isabel announced with a big grin.

Max smiled back. "What did you see?"

"Well…" she started to reply before breaking into peals of laughter.

Michael grunted. "Get it together Iz, the suspense is killing me."

"Oh, you're going to love this! Michael has…Michael has.." Isabel was clearly struggling to contain her laughter.

"I have…come on, get on with it already." he grumbled, not in the mood to play guessing games.

"MICHAEL….HAS A GROUPIE!"

Max looked confused for a moment before joining in the laugh-fest with Isabel, giggling so hard that he almost fell off his bed. The idea of Michael, the human-avoiding loner, having some kind of admiring groupie was hilarious.

"What the fuck are you talking about?" Michael asked crossly.

Isabel managed to stop laughing long enough to explain herself. "You know that really weird Maria Deluca chick? She followed you around and watched your every move all day at school."

Michael sat up straighter in his chair at this. "Why would she do that?"

She smirked back at him. "I think she probably has a huge crush on you, just from way in which she was looking at you. She looked like a real lovesick puppy or something."

Outside the window, Maria gulped and cringed inwardly.

Isabel's response set Max off again, rolling around on the floor in total amusement.

Michael glared at both his friends. This was no laughing matter! Was he the only one with enough sense to see that they might now be in even more danger of being discovered?

"That is completely ridiculous. If she's been watching me, the only two possibilities are a) she's onto me somehow and is spying on me to see what I am and what I can do and-"

" Have you done anything stupid recently that Maria could have witnessed?" Max interrupted. "Any more trouble with controlling your powers?"

"No, of course I haven't. You should know me better than that, Maxwell!" Michael snapped back furiously. "And b), she is clearly insane. You know I'm a screw up! I'm a good for nothing loser. Girls aren't interested in that."

Isabel sighed. Michael's struggles with his background and self-esteem were nothing new, but it still hurt to hear him disparage himself like this.

"Michael, we both know that you're far from being a bad guy. But the fact is, is that there are a lot of superficial girls out there that the bad boy image appeals to, and might think that you're one as well." she told him gently.

"Don't be ridiculous! Of course, I'm not a 'bad boy'. I don't drink, I'm not a drug dealer, I don't cause trouble for anyone, I stay the fuck away from the police….hell, and I don't even date anyone!" he shot back, angry that Isabel and Max didn't seem to take his concerns seriously.

"Michael..."

"Forget it. I have some whack job chick following me around and the two of you think it's hilarious. That's great...I'm outta here."

With that he jumped out of the chair he was sitting in and climbed out of Max's window, fending off Max's attempts to block his exit. He left the Evans house, half-stalking, half-running. Maria hurriedly found a bush to conceal herself behind with seconds to spare, and then moved back to her previous position as soon as Michael was no longer in view. This was all so much more than she had bargained for.

Isabel was still in the room, talking to Max.

"Michael lacks so much confidence in himself, it's no wonder he's so emotionally scarred with the life he's had so far. We were so lucky that Mom and Dad found us but he has no one."

Max nodded solemnly in agreement.

"I wish there was some way we could convince him to get away from Hank and petition for his independence, Michael deserves so much better than that pathetic drunk."

The two of them looked at each other, faces heavy with sorrow and resigned to the fact that Michael was too stubborn to help himself out of the abusive situation he'd been placed in for too long.

Maria had heard enough. She quietly made her way back to her car and drove home, feeling more than a little disturbed at the conversation she had listened in on that afternoon. Obviously there was far more to Michael than what met the eye. Her opinion of him had rapidly changed in a short space of time. Far from being a bad boy going nowhere, he was more a hurt, lonely soul who deserved far more than what life had so far dished out to him.

Why did Michael consider himself to be a 'screw up'? Who was Hank and did he abuse Michael? Had he really convinced himself that he was worthless?

So many questions that she didn't have the answers to, but now Maria was more determined than ever to find them. She was a Deluca on a mission and not to be messed with.


	3. Chapter 3

**Thanks for the wonderful feedback everyone, I appreciate it!**

**--**

Maria arrived at school the next morning, positive that the plan she had formed in her mind was the right one to use. Unfortunately for her, her best friends weren't quite so convinced.

"You're kidding me, right?" Alex shook his head in amazement.

Maria frowned. "No Alex, I'm deadly serious here. I need to look at Michael's file and to do that, I need you both to back me up so I don't get caught. Come on."

She started to walk away before Liz reached out and grabbed her arm.

"This is wrong, Maria and totally getting out of hand. Do you have any idea how much trouble you'll be in if someone catches you doing this?" she adminished. "Not to mention that it's an invasion of Michael's privacy."

"I know that, but as I've already told you several times – the risk is worth it and I won't tell anyone what I find on Michael's file. I'm going and that's final, so you're either with me or you're not!" Maria answered, exasperated with her friends' reluctance. She shook her arm free of Liz's grip and began to make her way down to the administration office. Turning back briefly, she added "What's it going to be?" before continuing.

Alex heaved a big sigh.

"You know we can't let her do this alone."

"This is so ridiculous. Seriously, Alex..."

"Yeah, yeah, I hear you but what can we do?"

The two of them trailed after Maria, grumbling under the breaths and hoping that they'd all get out in one piece.

--

After getting the all clear from Liz and Alex, Maria managed to sneak into the filing room without too much fuss. She opened the drawer marked as GI – GU and located Michael's file at the back.

_GUERIN, Michael_

Trembling with nerves and anticipation, she pulled it out and opened it to the first page. Apparently he lived in foster care at the Old Chisholm Trail trailer park on the edge of town. Rifling a little further through the file, she found some notes written by a social worker on Michael's background. He had been found naked and dehydrated in the surrounding desert, aged just six years old. _Now that's interesting, _Maria mused. Remembering back some months ago when she and her mom were grocery shopping at the local store, she had overheard someone chattering about Max and Isabel. According to the gossiper, they had been found in the desert when they were six and adopted by well-to-do couple Phillip and Diane Evans.

Could Michael in fact be related to Isabel and Max? And if so, why didn't the Evanses adopt him as well? Maybe he was too much for them to handle, or perhaps they only wanted one boy and one girl. The thought of Michael being left behind and unwanted left a dull ache in Maria's heart. That was something she was all too familiar with, hitting way too close to home for her liking. Shrugging it off, she quickly replaced the file back into the cabinet and snuck out of the room, making her way back over to her friends.

"I found Michael's address, I think I'm going to check out his home after school." Maria told them, her voice brooking no arguments.

"Well you know what we think about that, but since that isn't going to stop you..." Liz's voice trailed off.

"...You're on your own from here on out." Alex finished.

Maria nodded in understanding. " I respect that. I'm not really sure where I'm going with this myself, but I have to see it through anyway."

"Take care, Maria." Liz cautioned.

"Will do, I'll try my best to make it back in one piece." Maria responded as she began making her way to music class.

Alex snickered. "Oh, now that's encouraging."

--

Unbeknown to the three friends, Michael Guerin stood just a short distance away, witnessing Maria in the admin office and eavesdropping on their conversation. What the hell was going on with that ditzy Deluca chick and why was she so obsessed with him to the point of visiting the trailer park? He wanted answers and come hell or high water, he was going to get them.

--

Still unaware that Michael now knew what she was up to, Maria kept a close eye on Michael for the remainder of the day. As the final bell sounded, she noticed him whispering to Max in the hallway and taking what looked like a set of keys from his friend before walking away. Maria followed him out to the parking lot at what she thought was a discreet distance and watched him jump into the Evans jeep. _Maybe he has a job after school to go to. _Abandoning her initial plan to visit the trailer park, Maria got into her own car and decided to tail him.

The jeep rumbled along Roswell's streets at what seemed like a snail's pace to Maria, making the whole low profile tailing operation that much harder. It wasn't exactly easy to hide a bright red Jetta, especially now that they seemed to be heading out of town altogether. Michael turned off suddenly down the road that led to the local quarry and lake. Realising that she really needed to keep out of sight, Maria slowed her car down and pulled it over to the side of the road where it would be partially hidden behind a tall bush. She walked down to the quarry area and found the Jeep parked near the cliff, with Michael nowhere to be seen. Where the hell was he? It was a frickin' dead end road for God's sake! She walked around some more, forgetting to be discreet now that the surrounding area was open with nowhere to hide. This shit was getting far too tiresome for her liking. _UGH! Stupid guys, stupid Madame Vivian!_

"Damn it Guerin, where are you?" Maria complained out loud, as she began to stomp away. "Trust him to make my plan next to impossible!"

"Your plans?" A new voice cut into her exasperated ramblings.

Maria swerved around to meet the eyes of one very pissed off Michael Guerin.

_Eeeeeeeek! Oh crap. __All alone in a deserted area with an angry guy from the wrong side of the tracks...yeah, this was a baaaaaaaaad idea._

Before she even had the chance to let her mind devolve into complete hysterics, Michael stalked right over to her and grabbed her arm.

"What are you doing, why are you following me around?" he demanded.

Maria was frozen on the spot, unable to make any excuses for herself. What could she possibly say for herself?

He shook her arm, his anger increasing by the second. "Answer me! What the hell are you playing at?"

She groaned, there really was no way out of this for her.

"I...I...uh...look...you wouldn't understand, ok?" she managed to mumble.

Michael shook his head.

"Try me, or you'll be swimming in that lake. With your clothes on." he replied, indicating with his free hand toward the lake that lay at the bottom of the quarry cliff. "It could get uncomfortable fast, I hear the water is cold this time of year."

Maria's eyes narrowed._ Oh no, he did not just say that!_

"You can try but I'll kick you in the balls so hard that children won't be an option for you, ever." she scoffed.

"I don't even want children anyway, so the offer still stands. Talk...now."

"Why would you say that? Everyone wants children, they're like proof of your heritage or something. Unconditional love, someone to cherish and take care of. Who doesn't want those things?" The curiosity in Maria's voice was genuine; as an only child, she'd always wanted to have a large family.

"I don't want to pass on my heritage and I don't believe in love! I want to forget the world and for the world to forget me." Michael glowered, annoyed with himself for letting her get to him so easily. "Last chance, stop stalling and start talking!"

Maria sighed. "I didn't mean to upset you, I'm sorry." She took a deep breath before continuing. "You're going to laugh at me, and think that I'm completely insane and stupid."

"I already know you're nuts. Go on."

"_Anyway..._I'm going to tell you the truth. I don't have a lot of luck with guys, well, none at all really. They're either grabby like octopuses or about as interesting as a bland vegetable. So I went to see a medium that my mom knows. She told me that I was going to have a great love and that it would be someone I already know." Maria paused for a moment to make sure he was still paying attention. "There were some other things in her vision, stuff that kind of led me to think that the guy she was talking about was you. It sounded crazy, even to me so I decided to investigate you for myself and...well here I am."

She looked up at Michael to try and guage his reaction. He looked completely stunned, like a deer in headlights. She could see that he was trying to say something but the words weren't coming to him._ Good lord, I've made him speechless!_

Finally Michael got hold of himself. "You're fucking around, right? Where are your two little cronies, I bet they're around somewhere with a camera filming this shit."

He turned around and walked back towards the Jeep. Maria ran to catch up to him before he could jump in and drive away.

"Michael...please, wait!"

"No, I know what you're doing! You're here to screw with my mind, make me feel a whole lot shittier than I already do." he snarled back at her, making her take a step back. "Well let me tell you something, I'm not some toy for you to amuse yourself with. Fuck you."

With that, he hopped into the car and started the engine before tearing down the road back to Roswell. Maria was left standing in a cloud of dust. What on earth was she going to do now?


End file.
